Paul's letter to Philemon is believed to have accompanied the returned slave Onesimus, who was a runaway who somehow encountered Paul during Paul's imprisonment in Rome. The circumstances surrounding that meeting or Onesimus' subsequent conversion to Christianity are not disclosed to us. However the internal testimonial evidence of this letter in concert with internal information in Paul's letter to the Colossians, leads us to conclude that Onesimus returned to Colosse with Tychicus, who bore the letter to the churches in the regions of Colosse.

This letter, while short and only containing 25 verses, is nevertheless one of the most compelling pieces of scripture that I personally have explored. It is compelling because it commands us to acknowledge the transforming, life-altering and destiny-changing power of the Gospel.